Method for operating a device having a switchable power saving mode for reducing its power consumption

ABSTRACT

A method for operating a device including a processing unit having a switchable power saving mode for reducing its power consumption. The method includes the following acts performed by the processing unit: determining if an application running in foreground is compatible with the power saving mode; and switching the power saving mode depending on whether the application running in foreground is determined compatible with the power saving mode.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application is a Section 371 National Stage Application of International Application No. PCT/IB2017/001662, filed Dec. 14, 2017, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, and published as WO 2018/115958 on Jun. 28, 2018, not in English.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of this invention is that of mobile phones.

More particularly, the invention relates to a method for operating a device so as to save battery power.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Recent mobile phones (smartphones) offer numerous features, including GPS, internet, music, video playing, games and countless apps. Unfortunately, many of these features can take a toll on the device's battery power and cause it to drain quickly. It is often required to charge the battery every evening.

Several mobile operating systems such as Android or iOS provide for a “power saving mode” which allows saving battery by reducing the CPU (Central Processing Unit) consumption.

However such a power saving mode reduces CPU performances (through a limitation or its clock frequency and/or voltage), which may affect the behavior of applications if they need full CPU operation. If the power saving mode is switched on while there is an application running, such as GPS navigation, which requires a lot of CPU power, the application is thereby unpleasantly slowed down and the user experience is deteriorated.

There is therefore a need for an improved power saving mode which improves the battery saving and does not impact the user experience.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

For these purposes, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a method for operating a device comprising a processing unit having a switchable power saving mode for reducing its power consumption, the method being characterized in that it comprise the following steps, performed by the processing unit:

-   -   (a) determining if an application running in foreground is         compatible with the power saving mode;     -   (b) Switching the power saving mode depending on whether the         application running in foreground is determined compatible with         the power saving mode.

As it will be shown, this astute use of an existing power saving mode allows saving even more energy by reducing the CPU consumption when low performance is sufficient, while preventing deteriorating user experience by not reducing the CPU consumption when full performance is required.

Exemplary but non limiting features of the present invention are as follow:

-   -   step (b) comprises switching on the power saving mode if the         application running in foreground is determined compatible with         the power saving mode;     -   step (b) comprises switching off the power saving mode if the         application running in foreground is not determined compatible         with the power saving mode;     -   the device comprises a battery, the step of switching off the         power saving mode if the application running in foreground is         not determined compatible with the power saving mode being only         performed when a level of said battery is above a predetermined         threshold;     -   determining if an application running in foreground is         compatible with the power saving mode is performed when         detecting a change of application running in foreground;     -   the method comprises a previous step (a0) of monitoring which         application is running in foreground so as to detect such a         change;     -   an application compatible with the power saving mode is an         application which functions sensibly indistinguishably with or         without the power saving mode;     -   at least one application compatible with the power saving mode         presents a given tag in its code, step (a) comprising checking         the code of the application running in the foreground for said         tag;     -   a list of applications compatible with the power saving mode is         stored in a memory unit, step (a) comprising identifying the         application running in foreground, and checking the list for         said identified application;     -   the method comprises a previous step of asking the user, for         each application stored in said memory unit, if said application         is compatible with the power saving mode, so as to build said         list;     -   the method comprises a previous step of asking a server         connected to the device through a network, for each application         stored in said memory unit, if said application is compatible         with the power saving mode, so as to build said list;     -   the device comprises a battery, the method being performed only         when the processing unit is powered by said battery.

In a second aspect, the invention provides an electronic device comprising a processing unit having a switchable power saving mode for reducing its power consumption, the processing unit being configured to implement:

-   -   determining if an application running in foreground is         compatible with the power saving mode;     -   Switching the power saving mode depending on whether the         application running in foreground is determined compatible with         the power saving mode.

According to a third and a fourth aspects, the invention provides a computer program product, comprising code instructions for executing a method according to the first aspect for operating a device comprising a processing unit having a switchable power saving mode for reducing its power consumption; and a computer-readable medium, on which is stored a computer program product comprising code instructions for executing a method according to the first aspect for operating a device comprising a processing unit having a switchable power saving mode for reducing its power consumption.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be apparent in the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of architecture in which the method according to the invention is performed; and

FIG. 2 is a diagram representing steps of a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT Power Saving Mode

The presently described power saving mode is at least a “CPU power saving mode” i.e. a power saving mode reducing the power consumption of the CPU. It is to be understood that such power saving mode may have additional effects on the power consumption, for example a decrease of the brightness of the screen, a limitation of the amount of data wirelessly transmitted, etc.

In known mobile operating systems, this power saving mode has to be switched on or off manually by the user himself. Optionally, the user may set that the power saving mode is automatically switched on at a given low battery level (for instance 5% or 15% in Android), so as to extend the time before the phone run out of battery (at the price of sacrificing the CPU performances).

Such a conventional power saving mode fulfills its role, but it might lead to inadequacy, at a certain time, between the actual CPU power and the CPU power needed by the running applications.

In particular;

-   -   the conventional power saving mode can be switched on while         there is an application running, such as GPS navigation, which         requires a lot of CPU power, thereby slowing down the         application and deteriorating the user experience;     -   on the other hand, the conventional power saving mode can be         switched off while there is an application running, such as         e-book Reader, which does not require a lot of CPU power,         thereby consuming uselessly CPU power and depleting mobile         battery.

Thus, if for instance the conventional power saving mode is set so as to be automatically switched on at a battery level of 15%:

-   -   From 100% to 15%         battery is wasted when using “low CPU power” applications;     -   From 15% to 0%         battery is saved but the user experience is highly deteriorated         when using “full CPU power” applications.

Considering these facts the applicant proposes a method for operating a device 1 such as a mobile phone, in which the power saving mode is switched on/off automatically according to the actual CPU needs of the running application, as it will be explained in detail.

In other words, when considering again the above example of a power saving mode automatically switched on or off depending on a battery level threshold, it is proposed to “less save” the battery when its level is low (for instance below 15%) to not deteriorate the user experience, but to compensate this “overconsumption” by saving the battery even at high levels (for instance above 15%) by reducing the CPU consumption when “low CPU power” applications are used. Consequently, the global battery life is not reduced and even extended, while deteriorating no more the user experience.

Architecture

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention relates to a method for operating a device 1 as represented by FIG. 1. As explained, the device comprises a processing unit 11, i.e. said CPU (one of mode processors), having a switchable power saving mode for reducing its power consumption. The power saving mode is generally implemented by the operating system installed on the device.

The device 1 typically further comprises a memory 12 (for example flash memory), and a user interface 13 (for instance a screen, possibly touch sensitive). The memory 12 is in particular for storing applications, which can be of various types. The processing unit 11 is able to run simultaneously one or more of these applications, in particular:

-   -   one running in “foreground” (i.e. the application displayed on         the user interface 13, with which the user interacts in real         type, consuming most of the CPU scheduling and memory         scheduling); and     -   the possible others running in “background” (i.e. “behind the         scenes”, without user intervention).

Only the application running in foreground may need the full CPU power.

The device 1 also comprises a battery 14, in particular a rechargeable battery (for instance lithium polymer) for powering the processing unit 11 and other units. It is to be noted that the processing unit 11 might be configured to automatically switch off the power saving mode when plugged to a power supply (when charging the battery).

The device 1 may further comprise others units such as a location unit for providing location data representative of the position of the device 1 (using for example GPS, network triangulation, etc.), a communication unit for connecting (in particular wirelessly) the device 1 to a network 20 (for example Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and preferably a mobile network, in particular a GSM/UMTS/LTE network, see below), etc.

Indeed, the device 1 is typically a smartphone, a tablet computer, a laptop, etc. In the following description the example of a smartphone will be used.

Determination Step

The present method is performed by the processing unit 11 of the device, and is advantageously implemented by a dedicated software application, separate from the operating system.

As represented by the FIG. 2, it comprises a step (a) of determining if the application running in foreground is compatible with the power saving mode (“ForeGrounD APPlication compatible with (+) Power Saving Mode?”).

This step (a) is preferably performed when detecting a change of application running in foreground. More precisely, the dedicated application (which runs in background) monitors the foreground (“CHanGe of ForeGrounD APPlication?”) in a previous step (a0), and performs the step (a) at each time the foreground application is switched by the user: the determination step is performed on the new application which becomes running in the foreground.

By application “compatible with the power saving mode”, it is meant “low CPU power application”, i.e. an application which can run normally in power saving mode (without performance degradation), for example a messaging application, a reading application, an internet browser, etc. By contrast an application “not compatible with the power saving mode” is a “full CPU power” application, i.e. an application which cannot run properly in power saving mode (because they need CPU power to perform in real time), for example a movie player, a GPS navigation application, a game, etc.

In a general way, it can be considered that any application which functions (while in foreground) sensibly indistinguishably with or without the power saving mode (i.e. the user is not able to perceive any degradation of quality of service) is compatible, whereas any application which functions distinguishably not as well (while in foreground) when the power saving mode is on (i.e. the user is able to perceive a degradation of quality of service) is not compatible.

The step (a) of determining if the application running in foreground is compatible with the power saving mode might be performed in various ways, in particular by checking an indicator associated with each application which may run on the device 1.

In a first embodiment, a list of these indicators (under the form of a list of applications compatible with the power saving mode) is stored in the memory unit 12 of the device 1. Step (a) thus further comprises identifying the application running in foreground, and checking the list for said identified application.

For building this list, the method might comprise a previous step of asking the user, for each application stored in said memory unit 12, if said application is compatible with the power saving mode. In other words, the list may be obtained following an input from the user, which may be presented with a menu listing all potential applications in order to decide, for each application, whether he considers the application to be compatible the power saving mode, i.e. whether he wants to use power saving mode or not (for instance with an on/off toggle bar). This new menu can be proposed in a specific operator's application or as an additional menu of the operating system. At each time a new application is installed on the memory 12, it may be further asked for this application whether he wants to use power saving mode or not.

Alternatively, the processing unit 11 may build the list by request the compatibility information remotely (for instance from a server 10 connected to the device 1 via the network 20). Similarly, each time a new application is installed on the device 1 and stored in the memory 12, a new request for compatibility information can be sent to the server 10.

In another embodiment, at least one application compatible with the power saving mode presents a given tag in its code (a tag representative of the compatibility of the application with the power saving mode), step (a) then comprises checking the code of the application running in the foreground for said tag. In other words, the applications can be tagged by such an indicator by the application developers themselves, when they develop the application code. In such a case, when detecting a new application running in foreground, the dedicated software application looks for such a tag in a specific part of the application code and takes its decision on that basis.

It has to be noted that both approaches may be combined: when a new application runs in foreground, the processing unit 11 may determine if this application is compatible with the power saving mode by both checking the code of the running application for the given tag, and checking the list for the running application. If at least one criterion is met (i.e. the application code presents the given tag and/or is found in the list), then the application is considered as being compatible, if neither are met (i.e. the application does not present the given tag and is not found in the list), then it is considered as not being compatible.

Switching Step

In a further step (b), the power saving mode is activated or not as a function of the result of the compatibility determination.

In particular, the power saving mode is switched depending on whether the application running in foreground is determined compatible with the power saving mode.

Advantageously, the power saving mode is switched on if the application running in foreground is determined compatible with the power saving mode (alternative (b1) of FIG. 2—“Power Saving Mode ON”). It has to be understood that if the power saving mode was already on, its state is not modified.

Advantageously, the power saving mode is switched off if the application running in foreground is not determined compatible with the power saving mode (alternative (b2) of FIG. 2—“Power Saving Mode OFF”). Similarly, it has to be understood that if the power saving mode was already off, its state is not modified.

As already explained, it may be provided that switching on the power saving mode is being performed only when the processing unit 11 is powered by said battery 14. In other words, if the device is powered by a power supply (i.e. the battery 14 is charging), then the power saving mode may not be available (as there is a “limitless” supply of energy, there is no need to stress the processing unit by requesting a consumption reduction).

Furthermore, an additional condition may be provided that under a given “critical” battery level (advantageously lower than the known levels for automatically switching on the power saving mode, for example inferior than 5%, 3% or even 2%), the power saving mode is kept on even if the application running in the foreground is not compatible with it. This way, in case of emergency, this power saving mode can be activated by the user (if for instance he wants the device 1 to not run out of battery at any cost), even at the cost of the user experience deterioration.

After the power saving mode is switched on/off, the system may revert to the state of monitoring the foreground application for change (step (a0)).

Example

At a first instant, a GPS navigation application is used in foreground. The processing unit 11 checks and finds that this application needs full CPU power and thus is not “power saving mode” compatible.

Then the user switches from application by starting an eBook reader application: this eBook reader application becomes the application running in foreground while the GPS navigation application becomes an application running in background.

The processing unit 11 detects this change of foreground application, checks if the eBook reader application is “power saving mode” compatible and, since it detects that it is the case, triggers the switching on of the power saving mode.

Later on, when the user stops using the eBook reader application, the processing unit 11 can check which type of application is now running in foreground. For instance, if the user uses again the GPS navigation application, which then comes back in foreground, the processing unit 11 detects this new change of foreground application, determines that the application now running in foreground needs full CPU power/normal mode, and thus is not “power saving mode” compatible, so that it triggers the switching off of the power saving mode.

It has to be noted that the processing unit 11 can decide to automatically trigger the switching off of the power saving mode when stopping using a “power saving mode” compatible application running in the foreground, in order to automatically return to normal mode.

Device and Computer Program

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention concerns an electronic device 1 comprising a processing unit 11 having a switchable power saving mode for reducing its power consumption, adapted for carrying out the method for operating as previously described. This device 1 may also comprise a memory 12, a battery 14.

The aforementioned processing unit 11 is in particular configured to implement the steps of:

-   -   determining if an application running in foreground is         compatible with the power saving mode;     -   switching the power saving mode depending on whether the         application running in foreground is determined compatible with         the power saving mode or not (in particular, switching it on         when the application is determined compatible with the power         saving mode or switching it off when the application is         determined not compatible with the power saving mode).

An exemplary embodiment of the invention further proposes a computer program product, comprising code instructions for executing (in particular with a processing unit 11 of the device 1) the previously described method, as well as a computer-readable medium (in particular a memory 12 of the device 1), on which is stored a computer program product comprising code instructions for executing said method. In particular, this computer program product may correspond to the dedicated software application discussed previously.

Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to one or more examples, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the scope of the disclosure and/or the appended claims. 

1. A method for operating a device (1) comprising at least one processing unit (11) and a screen (13), said device (1) having a switchable power saving mode for reducing the device (1) power consumption, the method being characterized in that it comprises the following steps, performed by the processing unit (11): determining (a) if an application running in foreground is compatible with the power saving mode; switching (b) the power saving mode depending on whether the application running in foreground is compatible with the power saving mode.
 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the switching step (b) comprises switching on (b1) the power saving mode if the application running in foreground is determined compatible with the power saving mode.
 3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the switching step (b) comprises switching off (b2) the power saving mode if the application running in foreground is not determined compatible with the power saving mode.
 4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the device comprises a battery (14) and wherein the step of switching off the power saving mode if the application running in foreground is not determined compatible with the power saving mode is only performed when a level of said battery is above a predetermined threshold.
 5. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the power saving mode comprises at least one switchable component, a component of the power saving mode being a screen power saving mode for reducing the power consumption due to the screen (13).
 6. A method according to one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the power saving mode comprises at least one switchable component, a component of the power saving mode being a CPU power saving mode for reducing the power consumption due to the processing unit (11).
 7. A method according to claim 6, wherein the device (1) comprises a plurality of processing units (11) and wherein switching on the CPU power saving mode comprises switching off at least one of said processing units (11) while keeping at least one of said processing units (11) switched on.
 8. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the power saving mode comprises a plurality of switchable components, the determining step (a) comprising determining if the application running in foreground is compatible with each switchable component of the power saving mode.
 9. A method according to claim 8, wherein the switching step (b) comprises, for each component of the power saving mode, switching said component depending on whether the application running in foreground is compatible with said component.
 10. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein determining (a) if an application running in foreground is compatible with the power saving mode is performed when detecting a change of application running in foreground.
 11. A method according to claim 10, comprising a previous step (a0) of monitoring which application is running in foreground so as to detect any change.
 12. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein an application compatible with the power saving mode is an application which functions sensibly indistinguishably with or without the power saving mode.
 13. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein at least one application compatible with the power saving mode presents at least one given tag in its code and determining step (a) comprises checking the code of the application running in the foreground for said tag.
 14. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein at least one list of applications compatible with the power saving mode is stored in a memory unit (12) and determining step (a) comprises identifying the application running in foreground and checking the list for said identified application.
 15. A method according to claim 14, comprising a step of receiving from a user of the device, for at least one application stored in said memory unit (12), an indication about the compatibility of said application with the power saving mode, so as to build said list.
 16. A method according to claim 10, comprising a step of receiving from a server (10) connected to the device (1) through a network (20), for at least one application stored in said memory unit (12), an indication about the compatibility of said application with the power saving mode, so as to build said list.
 17. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the device (1) comprises a battery (14), the method being performed only when the processing unit (11) is powered by said battery (14).
 18. An electronic device (1) comprising at least one processing unit (11) and a screen (13), said electronic device (1) having a switchable power saving mode for reducing its power consumption, said processing unit (11) being configured to: determine if an application running in foreground is compatible with the power saving mode; switch the power saving mode depending on whether the application running in foreground is determined compatible with the power saving mode.
 19. A computer program product, comprising code instructions for executing a method according to any one of claims 1 to 17 for operating a device (1) comprising at least one processing unit (11) and a screen (13), the device (1) having a switchable power saving mode for reducing its power consumption.
 20. A computer-readable medium, on which is stored a computer program product comprising code instructions for executing a method according to any one of claims 1 to 17 for operating a device (1) comprising at least one processing unit (11) and a screen (13), the device (1) having a switchable power saving mode for reducing its power consumption. 